According to the latest monthly report by the International Energy Agency, Iran’s daily oil production in the month of April reached 3.3 million barrels, which is 75,000 barrels more than March.
The statistics archive of this international agency shows that since the beginning of 2024, Iran’s daily oil production has increased by 150,000 barrels.
Before the US sanctions in 2018, Iran had a daily oil production of 3.8 million barrels, but this figure dropped to below 2 million barrels in 2020. Since the Biden administration took office, Iran’s oil production has experienced significant growth due to consecutive increases in exports.
Iran has also used an extensive network of middlemen and intermediaries, and the oil tanker tracking company Vortexa reported on Saturday, May 18, that 163 large oil tankers are involved in clandestine oil transfer from Iran to China.
The commodity information company Kepler had previously reported that in the first three months of the current year, Iran’s oil exports reached 1.5 million barrels per day, which is 200,000 barrels more than in 2023.
This international company also stated that last year, Iran exported 670,000 barrels of oil to China through intermediaries in Malaysian waters, but this figure has reached 800,000 barrels this year.
Recently, Brian Nelson, the Deputy Treasury Secretary of the United States, warned during his trip to Malaysia and Singapore that the United States considers Iran’s increased capacity for oil transfer dependent on service providers based in Malaysia. This oil is transported from the vicinity of Singapore and other areas to China.
In the first quarter of this year, Iran’s regime has increased its oil exports not only through increased production but also by selling its unsold oil stored in tankers in the Persian Gulf and the waters of East Asia.
Kepler’s statistics show that Iran’s unsold oil reserves steadily decreased from 45 million barrels in mid-fall last year to below 15 million barrels by the end of March this year.
Despite the significant increase in oil exports, Iran faces substantial costs to bypass US sanctions and receive payment for its exported oil. For example, considering the price and volume of Iran’s oil exports, it was expected that the country would have at least $44 billion in oil revenue last year, but customs statistics indicate that it only had $36 billion in oil revenue.
Reuters previously reported that Iran offered a $13 discount to Chinese refineries for each barrel of exported oil last year.
In addition to the costs of clandestine oil shipments in the middle of oceans to other tankers or the rebranding of Iranian oil with the help of intermediaries and its sale as Malaysian, Iraqi, Emirati, and Omani oil to China.
